Man Sought After Attempt At 2nd Rape In Pines

PEMBROKE PINES -- Police are searching for a man who hid in the back seat of a woman`s car in a shopping center parking lot, pulled a knife on her when she got back in and tried to rape her.

A similar attack occurred last week in which a man hiding in the back seat of a pizza delivery car forced the driver to go to a nearby parking lot and raped her, police said.

The suspect in each case was described as a white man with short blond hair. The first victim said he was about 5 feet 9 inches tall and 130 pounds. The second victim said he was about 20 years old and 5 feet 8 inches.

The women were abducted in the 8900 and 9000 blocks of Taft Street and forced to drive to parking lots nearby.

In the first attack, a woman, 20, was raped about 10 p.m. on Friday by a man who was waiting in her car outside Pizza Machine, where she worked.

The attacker held a knife to the woman`s throat as she drove west on Taft. He forced her to stop in a shopping center parking lot nearby and raped her at knifepoint, police said. The victim`s mouth was taped during the assault, and the rapist taped her hands and feet before fleeing on foot.

The rapist wore a black long-sleeve shirt and pants, and gloves.

On Wednesday night, police said, a woman, 28, parked her car and went inside a Rose Auto Parts store. She left the car unlocked. She got back in, started driving away, and a man in the back seat emerged and threatened her with a sharp object, possibly a knife.

He told her to drive to a parking lot in the 9100 block of Taft. When she got there, there was a brief struggle. The woman bit the man, got out of the car and ran, police said.

She returned a short time later to get her car and called police.

Joe Rego, manager of the pizzeria where the victim of Friday`s rape worked before she quit after the attack, said the shopping center is well patrolled by police.

``As far as I know, nothing like this has happened here before,`` Rego said. ``This area is pretty crime-free.``